Question

Which city was called the fabled ‘City of Gold’?
A. Peru
B. Mexico
C. El Dorado
D. Spain

Answer 1

Hint: The city is said to be located somewhere in South America and this was the belief of the Spanish. It is a mythological city like the famous Lost City of Atlantis.

Complete answer: The fabled ‘City of Gold’ is called El Dorado (‘The Golden One’). El Hombre Dorado (‘The Golden Man’) and El Rey Dorado (‘The Golden King’) are also names given to the city. It was a term used by the Spanish Empire. They used it to describe a mythical tribal chief of the Muisca people. These were the indigenous people of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense of Colombia.

A city called Manoa on the shores of Lake Parime was the second location which was inferred for El Dorado. Many expeditions took place in search of this city and Sir Walter Raleigh undertook two of the most famous of these expeditions.

Colombia, Venezuela and parts of Guyana and northern Brazil were all searched by Spanish explorers for many years and they did this to find the city and know more about its fabulous king.

In the particular tribe whenever a new chieftain rose to power a ceremony would be performed at Lake Guatavita. It is said that the new ruler would be covered by gold dust and along with this gold and other precious jewels would be thrown into the lake. This was done to appease the god that lived underwater.

Therefore the correct answer is option C.

Note: It is now believed that in reality there never existed a city of gold. The ‘golden one’ was meant for a person and not a place and recent archaeological research confirms this.